Search - Johnny Carroll :: Rock Baby, Rock It (1955-1960)

One of the Rockabilly Greats

Paul Kesler | 03/26/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here's a fabulous CD for all hardcore Rockabilly fans who want a better sampling of Johnny Carroll tracks than those typically available on miscellaneous artist compilations. Yes, there's "Wild Wild Women" and the title track, plus "Crazy, Crazy Lovin'." All good stuff. But in my view, Carroll's best tracks are the ones you don't see elsewhere. For instance, "Why Cry," "Love is a Merry-Go-Round," and "You Two-Timed Me One Time Too Often," any of which are better, and less derivative, than JC's better-known cuts. Also, there are a couple extremely interesting tracks here that I'd never encountered before, namely "Bandstand Doll" (which strikes me as a minor-key variant on that already minor-key classic, "Besame Mucho"), and "Rag Mop," an hilarious novelty record which uses some of the same "onomatopoeia" drum effects found in Fats Domino's "Whole Lotta Lovin'" (but uses them more imaginatively). Finally, there are the cover tracks: "Hearts of Stone" is Carroll's version of the song recorded by The Charms in 1954; "Crazy Little Mama," a retitled version of the El Dorados' "At My Front Door"; and "Corrine, Corrina," an old Swing and R&B standard recorded by too many artists to mention. And, yes, there's Carroll's recycling of Elvis's "Trying to Get to You," which virtually echoes Presley's version note-for-note. All these covers are excellent, and except for the last-mentioned, are significantly different from the originals to prove that Carroll was much more than just a rehash artist. THIS guy could rock!

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Goddamn hot!

Martin 13 | Slovenia | 06/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Everything that Johnny Carroll recorded in his early career is here. A few demos, and now already rockabilly classics ("Hot Rock", "Rock & Roll Ruby" , "Wild Wild Women", "Corrine, Corrina", "Crazy Crazy Lovin'", "Tryin' to Get to You"). His influences were absolutely Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent and a few songs he recorded with Gene Vincent band and that can be heard. He even wrote a few songs for him. He was one of the best rockabilly performers."